The suffering of a Depressed Woman In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” we get to see how the gender division affected woman in the nineteenth century. We met the narrator whose name in the end is secretly revealed as Jane and she is suffering from nervous depression. Jane is under her husband’s care, John, who is a physician. The narrator was a victim of a patriarchal culture where women were not equally respected like a man; affecting her marriage, personal life and health condition. John did not mean to hurt her and wanted to help her, but he misguided her unintentionally. Jane struggles with her emotions which forces her to a desperate situation. There is evidence throughout the story that reinforces my argument.
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(Gilman 648). It is clear that her husband’s voice is very powerful making her own voice to be unimportant. In the article “The Writings on the Wall”, Suess also mentions the patriarchal society that the narrator –or Gilman- went through during that time period, “The story represents patriarchy or specifically the arrogant abuse of patriarchal authority” (Suess 81). Unfortunately due to the patriarchal traditions in the late nineteenth century, the narrator had to obey her husband’s orders. In addition, Suess claims in her article that Gilman made visual descriptions that show that, “Gilman makes it clear that the world of the story is patriarchal” (Suess 86). This proves that Jane was a victim of gender division and it indeed led her to worsen her health condition. John’s actions against his wife were patriotic and could have not been questioned, for his word was unarguable. Jane was living a life where she had no authority and had no power to change
(Gilman 648). It is clear that her husband’s voice is very powerful making her own voice to be unimportant. In the article “The Writings on the Wall”, Suess also mentions the patriarchal society that the narrator –or Gilman- went through during that time period, “The story represents patriarchy or specifically the arrogant abuse of patriarchal authority” (Suess 81). Unfortunately due to the patriarchal traditions in the late nineteenth century, the narrator had to obey her husband’s orders. In addition, Suess claims in her article that Gilman made visual descriptions that show that, “Gilman makes it clear that the world of the story is patriarchal” (Suess 86). This proves that Jane was a victim of gender division and it indeed led her to worsen her health condition. John’s actions against his wife were patriotic and could have not been questioned, for his word was unarguable. Jane was living a life where she had no authority and had no power to change